Saturday, September 27, 2008

Fresh plum & peach sauce for fried ravioli

I am not cooking Chinese food this time, but this post starts out my comment on the Chinese plum sauce. You may have already known, it is always a dipping sauce for roasted duck (not Peking style) and roasted ribs. Its tangy sweetness supposes to be a perfect match with the bbq flavor. I love how this combo sounds.

However, I can't make myself to eat the store-bought plum sauce unless one day I started eating glue. There is no plum's taste in it, although the manufacturers love to throw in a plum's pit in each pack, really trying too hard to make me believe ...

Let's press "NICAM" button, back to this dish which is prepared in a western style.

Plum is always inexpensive in market. This sauce is super easy to make, and is super healthy. Peach in here takes the role as a natural sweetener so that I'd further cut down the amount of cane sugar. Then sprinkle a few chrysanthemum to finish, they are good to look at and good to smell.

Fried food is perceived as unhealthy and fatty, I beg to differ though. It really depends the recipe itself and how much you eat :)

Recipe of fresh plum & peach sauce

(as dipping enough for 35 mini fried ravioli, recipe in the bottom)

ripped green plum, peeled and pitted, about 200 g, diced

1/2 large peach, diced

about 20 mustard seeds, crushed

cardamom seeds from 2 (green) pods, crushed

natural cane sugar, just about 1 spoonful

a few organic chrysanthemum

Put the mustard seeds and cardamom in a small pot, slowly dry roast them for a minute or 2, you should smell the aroma coming out.

Raise up the heat, add plum and peach. After it starts bubbling, lower the heat and simmer it with a lid 15 minutes.

Check the liquid level of the sauce, if it has too much liquid, open the lid and/or raise up the heat in order to let the liquid evaporate faster.

Process the sauce, I like mine a bit chunky. Taste and add sugar if necessary. Fold in a tiny chrysanthemum flower in. Turn the heat off.

You can serve anytime after it cools off. Add a few mum's petals as garnish.

Recipe of fried mini raviolis

(yield about 35 pcs)

4 - 5 heaped tablespoonfuls of flour

1 egg yolk

2 - 3 tablespoons of water

a very small pinch of baking powder

a small pinch of salt

some roasted meat, perfect for using up left-over, with some fat preferably, finely diced

In a mixing bowl, combine the water, the yolk, baking powder and (as a start) 4 heaped spoonfuls of flour. Add more flour if necessary. Knead the dough until smooth. Wrap with plastic, and rest in fridge for at least an hour.

Use a pasta machine to roll the dough, I stopped mine at the setting 6. The sheet dough was a long rectangle with the width of 14 or 15 cm. Cut the short side for every 7 cm. Now I got quite a few 7 x 15cm rectangle sheets.

Place one sheet, vertically, on a lightly floured work table. I am going to get three ravioli in one sheet. Spoon in a tiny bit of diced meat closer on the right side, on the top, in the middle and the bottom, brush a little bit of water around the meat pile, fold the left-side over, seal well. Use a knife or pasta cutter to cut into smaller square/rectangle. Place them on a plate but cover with plastic while you are working on others.

Please always lightly cover any dough with a plastic wrap if you are not working on it.

Pre-heat oil, about an-inch deep, until it is medium-hot. Brush away the excess flour on ravioli before you fry them. It only takes a minute or so for them to turn golden. Drained. Serve immediately. Plum and peach sauce on the side.